Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-01-20
THE ALrANIAHA.
a Loud Cail for the removal of the
~nags in Its Channel.


DoCToRTOwN, GA, Jan. 15.-EditOr
Morning Netos Your valuable paper
as usual, alive to the interests Of your
beautiful city in particular, and this
whole section of country in general, has
been calling aloud like the good sentinel
on Inc tower, stirring up the people TO
LOOK after their harbor 10 see that enough
money has been promised from Congress
to put your river in good navigable con-
dltion. With the knowledge of your
willingness to aid your wiregrass friends,
would Ike TO ask through the columns
OF your valuable paper who is the proper
person to look after the improvement
OF the Altamana. The citizens of the
counties through which this river runs
called several meetings, iand at considera-
bic expense sent delegates TO w Washington
TO help our Senators and Representatives
TO procure an appropriation Tor this work.
Inc money was granted months ago, and
although we have had a tall unusually
favorable and the river at such low
stage az to make it practicable to do the
work That ia much needed, namely, to re-
move the snags from the low water chan
mel OF Tue river, yet, strange to say, no
one has appeared through all those
months to inquire or see what was neces-
sary to be done for the improvement of
the river. Alter making dilligent inquiry
from captains and pilots. whose interests
aud business 1t IS to keep posted as to the
requirements of the river, | find their
greatest dread and only obstacle of any
consequence in navigating the river
when low Is not the want OF water, but
those dangerous snags. These are located
at almost every point between here and
the forks OF the river. Men have large
capital invested in the production Of
naYal stores, and to show what the eX-
tent OF this business is, nearly 1000 bar
reIs has been landed at Doctor
town since last October Resides this.
there are large operators in timber. whose
supplies have to be transported on This
river. Your fellow citizen, MIR. James
X. CLARK, who is operating some eighteen
miles of railroad Ia hauling his To- g 10 the
river, and whose employees can be counted
by hundreds, has all OF his supplies for
hands and teams transported by this
route. All OF those interests require reg
ilar and reliable TRANSFORMATION, not onlV
for their suppl s, but to send forward
their large product to market, aud during
The low rlverin September and part OF Oc-
tobtr those vast interests were compelled
80 suffer for want OF this transportation.
" hen 1t is known that by the eXpendi-
ture of a few thousand dollars this sort of
thing can be avoided, and particularly
when the money is lying in the Treasury
and available for that purpose, it looks
very much like negligence on the part OF
some one. The time was when it would
not be wholesome for a Southern man to
find fault with Federal officials, but,
thanks TO our fellow citizens all over
this great and glorious country, we now
have a President who represents the
whole people, and as Mr.. Cleveland has
said that all OF the officers Of the govern
ment are but the servants of the people
from himself down, | think it would be
we'll for the people to look after their
servan and see to it that the money
appropriated for the improvement of the
rivers is spent where it is most required
and will do the most good. From my OBJ
seryations 10 the past am satisfied that
much money appropriated for the rivers
was spent in keeping up the crews Of suag
boats, whose large draft of water debarred
them from reaching the points on the
river where the work is most needed to be
done at the proper time to see or get at
the snags. Those low river snags are the
ones that steam boat men dread, and this
is the work that should be first done,
and to do it properly | don't think those
heavy snag boats, with their luxuriant
cabins, are what is wanted when the
river is low. Those fine boats are gen.
orally tied up at some wharf, because
they cannot get to the poIrt where the
work is to be done. The writer OF this,
but a few days before the river COM
menced rising, took one hand. pike pole,
a os=- ut saw ard fiat bottom, small
boat and With those rude appliances cut
away several large snags, some of them
of oak two feet through, and one of them
which lay right IN the channel had been
the cause OF many fine RATS of timber
beng torn up. From my little
experience am satisfied
that those heavy, burdensome
snag boats are not what is nc ded on this
river, VIII ch, of course, is the only one
that l allude TO, If good man had been
suppl ed with n common fat, some rim-
Der to make q few floating stages to WorN
on, and some ropes, cross-cut saws and
axes, and about six good men VINO are
familiar with water work, and started
from Lumber City last August, or even
sept. /, there would have been no neces-
slty for the boats to have been
stopped one day, and the work
could have been done at the ex-
pense of few thousand dollars.
This noble river could be made perfectly
safe for steamboats, TO run from this place
TO the junction of the three rivers, and all
necessity for interrupIng or interfering
with the business on it avoided. If the
person whose business it is to look alter
this work will come here, be will find no
difficulty in getting all the information
required as to the places on the river
which requires the most attention.
ALTAMAHA.